Have you ever felt like things were just going wrong all the time. You know, those times when everything around you seems to break and then you catch your kids playing outside in their best dress pants.

Our dishwasher broke a long time ago but we adjusted to washing dishes by hand.

Now more recently our dryer broke two to three weeks ago or so. (And it did happen during the rainiest season we’ve had in five years, so hanging the clothes outside hasn’t really been an option.) Thus my husband, Scott’s handy clothes line system he set up for me in our bathroom.

I’ve also taken a few trips to the laundromat to dry clothes. They are a little more wrinkled that way because I want to save money by drying on the hottest setting but it gets the job done. (Well, sometimes it gets the job done but not the time the power went out all over town, including the laundromat, mid-cycle.)

Joshua helped me with the clothes one day at the laundromat. We reminisced over the days when he was little and we didn’t have a washer or dryer.

We couldn’t buy a new dryer because it wasn’t payday and a new dryer didn’t fit in our budget. However as soon as payday came Scott ordered the parts we needed to fix our old one. (Now we are just waiting for the part to come in.)

(Yes, we took a couple of loads of laundry to my parents while we were at it.)

While I was at the meeting my husband called to let me know our dog chewed up our internet cable. He needed me to buy a tool for him on our way back home.

The line was too broken to fix properly so we have also been without wifi internet for a week.

(Right now I am blogging from my phone and a couple of times my husband took me into town to let me take care of the bigger online jobs I had to attend to. All while we wait for a new Internet cable to arrive.)

How do you think my stress levels have been this past few weeks?

There was once a time in my earlier years that I would have let all this bother me.

However now we’ve been going with the flow so long that when waves like this hit we roll with them.

One day after turning down a really great offer because I didn’t have the money, I told Scott how simple not having a lot of money can make life. (Not saying I would turn down money if it were offered to me but…)

It’s so much easier turning down great deals when you don’t have the money. I tend to have a little more struggle deciding if I really need a product or service when I have the money.

We also cut out some of the “extracurricular” activities because we didn’t have the money for gas. We stayed home and did something fun with the kids instead. Not doing all the extra stuff actually helped us get the kids to bed at decent hours during the week.

Then when we do have a little extra money finally come in, it feels nice being able to buy some of the simple things we needed but couldn’t afford.

I felt incredibly rich and extravagant when I was finally able to buy a new vacuum cleaner. (Did I forget to mention that our vacuum broke too?)

When these things happen I choose to remember, I have my family, my health, a roof over our heads (that thankfully doesn’t leak), and a purpose.

What more could I ask for?

God has greatly blessed me and my family.

We are truly rich indeed!

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19

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About Anastacia Maness

Anastacia Maness is a preacher's wife, homeschooling mother of 6 blessings, and writer. When she's not busy counting her blessings she's writing about them right here on her blog, encouraging and strengthening families.

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4 thoughts on “How to Find What is Right When Things Keep Going Wrong”

How long has this been going on?
Anastacia, I bet II can top your difficulties, both in time and broken things

A couple of years with no dishwasher, a cracked sink, no microwave oven, one oven broken, and tens of computer issues, water in the basement because of an unplugged pump…. And money? Forget it. All goes to Greece, except what we need to feed our 14-member-family here and a sick neighbor.

Still smiling even if we have to pretend that all is perfect.

And it is. Just like you said. You never know how much you can do with limited money. Great realization: Very little needed to be OK…to live in the moment… grateful for both the smallest and most important things in your life.

Great post! Trust and faith that all is as it should be help us keep going, even during the worst times. For sure broken appliances are not going to put us under.

Anastacia, I don’t know of anyone who can make disasters sound like you’re on the to of the world. It really is about attitude, isn’t it? It’s easy to become disgruntled over the inefficiencies of life; but, when you really look at what matters most, we have so much to be thankful for. You’re a great model for encouraging others. I hope things let up for you, soon.

Thank you, Shelley! I am finally about to write another post after taking a very big Summer break. I am sorry I missed your comment earlier. I’m back and planning to be more consistent with my blogging now. Anastacia Maness recently posted…How to Find What is Right When Things Keep Going Wrong